


Firsts

by Biweatherman



Category: Groundhog Day - Minchin/Rubin
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death, The ryerson family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-21 01:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12446944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biweatherman/pseuds/Biweatherman
Summary: Ned reflects on the many firsts he'd had in his relationship with his wife





	1. Reliving

It was a crisp December morning, and birds chirped softly in the distance as mist gathered on the ground. It should’ve been beautiful, it was beautiful, but the man sitting on the bench took no notice of it. A kid of maybe sixteen walked up the path towards him, handing him a wax paper bag containing a pastry and a brown coffee cup holding a cappuccino. 

“Hey, Dad. I know I can’t convince you to come in from the cold but you at least have to eat something and stay warm, okay? I got your favourite” 

“Yeah, Jamie. You’re a good kid you know that? I’ll be… I’ll be home in a second, just give me a few minutes…”

“I understand, Dad. I miss her too” the kid said before travelling back down the hill, giving the man some space. 

Ned took a quick sip of the coffee, the drink turning bitter on his tongue. Jamie was right, a cappuccino and a danish were normally his favourites, but right now they just reminded him of her, of when they first met. 

It was the first year of college and Ned had been struggling slightly from the workload. He had been rushing out of a coffee shop, steaming cup in hand, on his way to a lecture and hadn’t noticed Mary enter as he was trying to leave. His coffee had spilled all down his jumper, soaking into the fabric, leaving it sticking to his t-shirt. 

“I am so, so sorry” Mary had hurriedly apologised

“It’s fine, really. It was my fault, I should’ve looked where I was going”

“Look, at least let me buy you another coffee?”

Ned would’ve said yes, he really would’ve, she was one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen but he had class in five minutes, which he explained with a wistful smile. He was ready to leave the girl of his dreams behind in the coffee shop until she dug around in her purse, grabbing a marker and scribbling her phone number on his hand. 

“Well, give me a call when you have time okay, so I can repay you for that coffee. I’m Mary by the way”

“Uhh, Ned, thank you” he said before rushing off, hoping she didn’t notice how red his face had gotten. She had and later on even admitted to finding it ‘quite cute really’. It’d taken him two days to get the guts to actually call her, but then they’d had a date at the same coffee shop, which he insisted on paying for even if she argued she’d owed him a coffee, and the rest had been history. 

Ned slowly dropped the cappuccino in the bin next to the bench with a resounding clang. He couldn’t bare to be reminded of the beginning. Not now that they were at the end. 

As Ned walked down the hill back to his house the sky opened up and water ran down his face, soaking into the collar of his shirt and dripping down the front of his glasses. The cold chilling him to his bone reminded him of his first kiss with Mary, when they’re been another body keeping him warm. 

He’d been walking her back from the restaurant when it had started to rain, it had started slow enough they had decided to just keep walking instead of calling a cab but then became progressively worse until they were both soaked, but at that point they were so close to her building they had decided there was no point. Anyway, it wasn’t like they could get any wetter. 

They’d lingered on their goodbyes, taking much longer than necessary before Ned finally got up the courage to lean in, his lips connecting with hers as one of her hands reached around his neck to pull him closer and he wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her against him. 

“This is a bit cliche, with the rain and all” Mary said with a laugh as they pulled away, her hand gently rubbing his arm. 

“That necessarily a bad thing?” Ned replied, slowly brushing a strand of strawberry-blonde hair away from her face. 

“Not necessarily” she said with a chuckle before leaning in again for a final kiss before she left for the night. 

As rain dripped down his face mingling with a few tears Ned felt colder than he had before. Gosh, how he missed her. He knew he should be picking up his heart, should be staying strong for his children, should be moving on. But that was impossible when every single thing reminded him of her. 

Ned was walking towards the house as his phone rang, a slow love song breaking the silence. Ned internally cursed himself for not changing his damn ring tone, a few months ago that song would have filled him with warmth, now it just thrust him into a cold past. 

The song was the one they’d chosen for their first dance, and what a dance that had been. He’d been practicing for months, even gone to a few classes in secret, but even then he stumbled over a few of the steps. It was worth it though, it made her laugh, such a joyful, carefree sound, he would do anything to hear that sound just one more time. And God, how beautiful she’d been that day. She’d always been gorgeous, but that day she’d practically glowed, he couldn’t believe his luck when she’d walked down the aisle, looking like an angel in her white dress. 

The persistent ringing brought him back to the present and he took a few deep breaths before answering the phone, Jamie had been through so much, he shouldn’t have to hear his father crying through the phone. 

“Jamie?”

“Dad, hey, on the walk back I was wondering if- Jasper leave Jack alone I’m trying to talk to Dad- sorry about that, umm…. Yeah if you could pick up a dozen eggs and a carton of milk from the store on the way back home”

“Of course, anything else?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a bag of maltesers”

“Got it. See you back at home”

As Ned reached the house he took a deep breath before entering. He could do it, he could make it through today, he had to. For them. He turned the key in the lock and embraced his family on the first birthday of their mom they had to celebrate without their mom.


	2. Living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned starts to move on

Ned stood in line at the diner, waiting for his drink. He took a sip, realising he’d been given the wrong order, a cappuccino instead of the chai tea he’d asked for. He was about to either bin it or tell Jeff about the mix-up when he found himself craving just one more sip. Heck, he’d missed this drink. It still reminded him of Mary, how could it not? But instead of turning the drink burnt and sour in his mouth it enhanced it, reminding him of brighter times and putting a genuine smile on his face. 

As he walked back home it started to rain and he turned up his collar. He knew he should have just taken an umbrella with him, the forecast had predicted rain. It was just hard to take the forecast seriously when you knew for a fact that the broadcaster once drank gatorade in a windex bottle in an attempt to get out of doing a test. Still it wasn’t too bad, it was spitting instead of bucketing down and besides he’d always liked the rain, ever since that kiss it had been his favourite weather. Another smile danced on his lips as he remembered the way Mary’s eyes has sparkled that night and the way she’d laughed at his stupid jokes back at the restaurant. It had been perfect, and it still was. Nothing could take away how happy he had been in that memory and how happy the memory still made him. Even if his heart ached and he wished for her to be with him, he knew that couldn’t happen and just tried to treasure all the moments he had had with her. It was all he could do now. It had to be enough. 

He entered the house to find Jasper watching cartoons in the living room, though he bounded towards Ned and into his arms as soon as he entered the house. Mary was upstairs taking a nap and Jamie, Jack and Joey were sitting around the kitchen table doing homework as a soft indie song played from one of their phones. It was their song, the song from their wedding. 

Jamie looked up when he entered and started to reach for the phone, obviously trying to skip the song, knowing the impact it had on Ned. Except it didn't have that impact anymore. Yes, he missed Mary with every fibre of his being, but instead of making him feel broken and empty, things that reminded him of her just made him happy for the time he had had with the greatest woman in existence. 

“It’s fine, you can keep it on. This was the song we used as our first dance at our wedding. Oh, your mother was truly an angel that day. Heck, I wish you could’ve been there” He pulled out his wallet to show them a picture from their wedding day, and even though they’d all heard the story hundreds of times before, back when Mary was still with them, the three of them asked him hundreds of questions about that day. 

Ned knew it was going to be tough, how could it not be without his angel by his side? But she wasn’t gone, not really, how could she be when there was so much to remind her of him, to keep those happy memories burning strong within him and make the smile on his face just a little less fake.


End file.
